BWW Reviews: Folger Theatre's ROMEO AND JULIET Rivets with Modern Relevance

Woe unto the society that undervalues its teenage girls. From the Pakistani Malala Yousafzai's of today to the Joan of Arcs, Ruby Bridges, and Anne Franks of history, young womanhood's quest for self-determination challenges our social mores as few other phenomena do.

In Folger Theatre's ROMEO AND JULIET, passionately directed by Aaron Posner, Juliet too is such a heroine, and this tragic tale of young love lost becomes a much deeper story of human rights denied.

The story, of course, personifies Western society's pivot toward courtly love and romance as the organizing principle for marriage, away from the centuries-old tradition of marriage for economic and political advantage (a perspective which clearly still informs marriage in the much of the world today). In defiance of their families' rivalry, Romeo and Juliet---both played as bookish youths drawn to each other's minds as well as bodies---meet and quickly long for romantic union.

In this most intimate production, however, Juliet (played with fire and spunk by Erin Weaver) soon becomes the lightning rod around which the play's conflict revolves. She and Romeo (played with depth and conviction by Michael Goldsmith) dare to presume that they, mere youths, can in fact be masters of their own fates.

Yes, their families are politically at odds, but the real issue here is that Juliet's domineering, even abusive father has arranged for his 13-year-old daughter to marry the prosperous and older, Paris (earnestly played by Joe Mallon), whose fortunes promise to further advance the Capulet family's economic success. And Lord Capulet is not a man to be denied, as Juliet's mother, Lady Capulet (played with aristocratic precision by the stunningly beautiful Shannon Koob) can attest. Brian Kykstra's Lord Capulet is a fury of patriarchal entitlement when he responds to his teenage daughter's impassioned defiance of his wishes. His outrage reminded me of the recent viral YouTube video of a Texas judge beating his Internet-surfing teenage daughter into submission. And here we thought teenage rebellion was a modern thing.

The profoundly contemporary feel of Posner's production continues Folger's glorious embrace of the intimacy of the Bard. Folger continues to turn the secluded closeness of its Elizabethan space into a hall of confession, where the deepest secrets of Shakespeare's characters are shared-whispered even-to an audience of sympathetic intimates. Gone is the mannered pretense of Shakespeare's language, replaced by an emotional directness and authenticity that speaks from the heart to a modern audience.

Into Juliet and Romeo's unfortunate impasse, Shakespeare brings the hope afforded by wiser elders: Juliet's Nurse (played with ribald humor and warm affection by Sherrie L. Edelen) and Friar Lawrence (played with intelligence and empathy by Eric Hissom). Through them, the better angels of society's nature strive to outsmart the controlling powers that be. Edelen's Nurse---truly one of the great roles for a character actress---delivers with incisive comic timing as she surreptitiously aids Juliet in her courtship with Romeo. Later though, even the Nurse demurs before the iron hand of Juliet's father and urges her young charge to make the best of an unwinnable situation and marry Paris. Friar Lawrence takes the clandestine support for Romeo and Juliet's romance several steps further, famously arranging for Juliet to fake her death and thus escape her marriage to Paris (bigamist act that it would be given her secret and lovingly consumated marriage to Romeo).

We know of course, that the best laid plans will go tragically wrong. We know that Romeo will not receive the Friar's message of the ploy. We know that, on learning that his beloved Juliet has "died," he will subsequently kill himself. We also know that Juliet, upon awakening from her faux death to find Romeo dead, will kill herself as well to join her Romeo.

Folger's production, however, also highlights several plot points that have either faded from memory or been understated in other well-known film or stage productions of this classic tragedy. In addition to its focus on the subordination of young women by all-powerful fathers, this production also brings home the fact that it is only when Romeo's good friend, the rowdy Mercutio (played with vigorous, manly swagger by Brad Koed) challenges Juliet's Capulet cousin Tybalt (convincingly played by Rex Daugherty with seething, squelched anger over his family's dishonor from Juliet's forbidden love) that the feud between the two families turns bloody and renders Romeo and Juliet's marriage impossible. The famous street brawl scene that leaves both Mercutio dead by Tybalt's hand and Tybalt dead by Romeo's hand is expertly choreographed by fight director Casey Dean Kaleba and forcefully executed by Koed, Bougherty and Goldsmith.

That the Friar's message to Romeo is waylaid by the quarantining of the messenger during the plague brings a rare historical contextualization to the story. And that Romeo's mother, Lady Montegue (mournfully played by Michele Osherow) herself drinks poison in her grief over her son's exile, presents yet another little-remembered dimension of the catastrophe.

Director Posner has also very effectively chosen to migrate the dead to ethereal presence on the upper scaffolding of the stage. One by one, dead characters assemble in the low light above, underscoring the blood cost of the play's tragic turns. This choice also makes manifest the fact that Romeo---in street parlance---has "two bodies on him" at the tender of 16. He killed Tybalt during the street brawl---the crime for which he is banished from Verona---and later kills Juliet's suitor Paris in self defense when Paris attacks him at the mouth of Juliet's tomb. Two bodies is no small burden for any man, much less a tender teen, and the weight of this burden, we realize, also contributes to Romeo's grief-stricken suicide.

The fine and tightly integrated ensemble conveys the collective cost of these youths' demise, much like the wrenching grief of communities today whose spurned or bullied young chose death over continued pain. Allen McCullough as Lord Montague brings a poignant sorrow and hopeful counterpoint of fatherly understanding to the role of Romeo's father. In his multiple roles as Romeo's servant Balthazar, the Nurse's servant Peter, and Friar John, Matthew McGee brings both humor and resolve to his characters and their pivotal importance to the story's narrative. As Romeo's cousin Benvolio, Aaron Bliden brings a laddish fidelity to his futile efforts to broker peace between the Montagues and Capulets.

The uncluttered, versatile scenic design of Meghan Raham lent itself to the production's contemporary relevance, and the lighting design by Jennifer Schriever set the tone of intimacy. Composer Carla Kihlstedt and sound designer Christopher Baine created a deeply personal sphere in which the narrative repeatedly touched home. Similarly, the subtly contemporary costumes of Romeo and Juliet, juxtaposed with the simple yet effective period costumes of the other characters, enhanced the production's relevance to modern audiences.

Director Posner powerfully ends the production with a long, stark moment of solemnity; the actors all face forward, motionless and silent, heavy with grief or guilt or regret. None of this---we modern audience members are reminded--had to happen, but for the intransigence and vengeance and injustice of a social order that disempowers the individual for the dominion of the few.

Playing through December 1, 2013, at Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St., SE, Washington, DC 20003

For tickets and information, call 202-544-4600 or visit the website at http://www.folger.edu/theatre

Advisories: None

Photography by Teresa Wood

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